Morrissey on Desert Island Discs: suicide is 'honourable'

The singer Morrissey has appeared on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs,
saying he contemplates taking his own life and describing suicide as "honourable".

Morrissey on the stage at London's Royal Albert Hall Photo: LFI

By Roya Nikkhah, Arts Correspondent

7:45AM GMT 29 Nov 2009

Speaking on the former frontman of The Smiths, famous for his melancholy lyrics, said that suicide was "an act of great self-control".

Morrissey on the stage at London's Royal Albert Hall

During the programme, which is broadcast on Sunday, Morrissey was asked by the presenter Kirsty Young: "Have you thought about being in control of your death? Have you thought about shuffling off this mortal coil at a time of your own choosing?"

He replied: "Yes, I have. I think self-destruction is honourable. I always thought it was. It's an act of great control and I understand people who do it."

When asked what luxury he would take to his desert island, Morrissey deliberated taking sleeping pills. "I would either take a bed, because I like to go to bed, or I would take a bag of sleeping pills because I might want to make a quick exit," he said.

Pushed to choose between the two, he said: "I would really take the bed as... I like to be hidden and I like to sink. We all love to go to sleep – it's the brother of death. It means we can just switch off our brains when we go to bed and forget about ourselves, hopefully."

Morrissey, 50, who collapsed on stage last month while performing in a concert in Swindon, Wiltshire, said that he often thought about his own mortality.

"I'm fascinated by the brevity of life," he said, "because we all know the axe will fall... with that fact at the forefront of everyone's mind in all we do, I find it fascinating how people spend their time.

"I think the world is quite dark and quite mad and I think to be a human being is quite a task. Everybody dies screaming, they don't die laughing as far as I know."

The singer also talked about growing up in Moss Side, Manchester, during the 1960s, and how from an early age he had felt "separate" from other people.

He said: "Naturally, I'm quite separate. I was considered to be unbalanced, which helped me greatly. It confirmed to me... I didn't want to grow up to be anything I knew, I wanted a completely different life, whatever that entailed.

"I have always had a fear of normality. I didn't want the norm in any way, and I didn't get it. And I'm glad, very glad indeed. I'm waiting to explode, I don't want to settle down until I'm carried out feet first."

Morrissey said that despite his Catholic upbringing, he had never taken comfort from religion. "Nothing comforts me. The world is a mesmerising mess and human beings are mesmerising messes."

The singer, whose hits include Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now and Panic, also said that he believed he had been sidelined by the music industry, which he described as "a strange breed of people", for writing bleak songs about doomed relationships and working-class issues.

He said: "It is very difficult to find a pop star who has anything to say. I was considered a bit potty and a bit loony. My fans feel I've been slighted, overlooked and disregarded. I'm not a celebrity so the music industry has never grabbed me."

Morrissey's choice of music for his desert island included There's Gonna be a Showdown by New York Dolls, Marianne Faithfull's Come and Stay with Me and Sea-Diver by Mott the Hoople.

His chosen book was the complete works of Oscar Wilde.

Morrissey said that he had no interest in ever settling down and being part of a couple.

“I don’t want to be any kind of happy couple with a photograph on the television set,” he said “I find it embarrassing.”

The singer also revealed that his earliest performances were as a six-year-old, when he would stand on a table top and sing hits from the 1960s.

He said: “It’s embarrassing and I would never really say this apart from the fact we’re on national radio and I have no choice, but I would stand on the table and sing. I was off even at that stage.”